


Fault Lines

by caliecat



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Character Study, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-20
Updated: 2011-07-20
Packaged: 2017-10-21 14:25:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/226188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caliecat/pseuds/caliecat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve's not flawless. Loosely follows <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/214103">Message and Meaning</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	Fault Lines

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AlamoGirl80](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlamoGirl80/gifts).



Danny's finger traces the crack in the handle, long ago mended with glue and determination and now nearly imperceptible unless you take the time to really look; dips into the half-moon chip on the rim; glides over the fine net of crazing underlying the flowing _Uncle Steve_ written across the side.

It happened months before, late one night after an exhausting day chasing fruitless leads and elusive suspects. They were washing dishes at the kitchen sink when the mug slipped from Steve's soap-slick hand and shattered on the kitchen floor.

"Don't worry about it," Danny said, taking in the taut bow of Steve's back and the set line of his jaw as he bent to collect the scattered fragments. "Grace will understand, she'll probably be thrilled to make you another one, she's been bugging me for pottery lessons ever since that class."

Steve looked up and something in his eyes, something small and lost and hopeless, reminded Danny of the time Mary went missing.

"But it was a gift," Steve said, as though that explained everything, his voice conveying the longing and wonder of one who rarely receives presents and because of that, cherishes them beyond all reason. He turned the mug over in his hands, ran his finger across a broken edge, shifted one of the larger pieces into the gap. "I can fix this," he murmured. "It's not too bad."

Danny thought of all the other things Steve tried to fix--disasters he couldn't prevent, events he couldn't control, people he couldn't save--and wondered if one more was too many.

"Hey." He tapped Steve's shoulder until he looked up again. "It's okay, she won't be upset, I promise. She's a tough kid and anyway, she's used to stuff breaking. Look at Rachel and me." His attempt at humor fell flat, only succeeding in deepening the frown on Steve's face and wiping the smile from his own.

But his protests fell on deaf ears. Steve made it his mission to repair every chip and crack, repaint every damaged surface, working for hours until he was satisfied with the result, driven by a compulsion Danny only partly understood.

Until the afternoon Grace visited their headquarters and spied the mug on the corner of Steve's desk.

"Ooh, I gave you that!" She ran into his office, her eyes wide with surprise and delight, her smile as warm as the sun, and soon the apprehension on Steve's face melted into relief and happiness and something else that made Danny's heart flip. Pride, he realized after a moment, as he watched Steve gaze at Grace with soft affection.

The bone-deep knowledge that you are valued by another. That you are worth something. That you matter.

Steve relaxed against the desk, smiling down at Grace's glowing face. "It was too special to save just for coffee. So I brought it here where I could use it all the time. And look, it's exactly what I need for my pens and pencils. See how they all fit? It's perfect."

And so it is, Danny thinks, standing in Steve's office long after everyone else has left, smoothing his fingertips over the cool ceramic, feeling their pads catch on the hills and valleys marring the glossy surface. Perfect.

Not flawless, of course, but then perfection's overrated anyway, flat and boring and intimidating; difficult to live with, impossible to live up to. He favors the challenge of the imperfect; the work in progress, the timeworn treasure whose value has outlasted its beauty. They may seem more fragile, may require more care and attention, but the rewards are greater, too, paying back the effort put into them a thousand-fold.

"All set here?" Danny startles as Steve appears in the doorway, done with his errands and eager to call it a night. "Ready to head home?"

"Sure," he answers, and his smile must be blinding, giving away every unspoken thought, every unvoiced desire; Steve stares a second or two, puzzled, before breaking into a goofy grin of his own. The truth is he's been ready for a while now, ready to follow Steve's lead wherever it takes him, ready to take on all of the risk and uncertainty that will surely follow.

Because he knows a good thing when he sees it, always had an eye for the rough-cut diamond that others overlooked. And Steve, with his chipped edges and hairline cracks, his fault lines running deep beneath the smart banter and polished exterior, his mended heart still willing to try again, is most definitely worth it.


End file.
